Garmin 550 / 550s

[Jono Garton]

Anyone had any dealings with the garmin 550 or 550s?

Any good?

Jono

[Mbryant]

Just got the 550s seems really nice, easy to use compared with others that ive used but haven't really had a chance to set up a passage or done anything substantial with it. Big fan or the clear, crisp display aswell!

[Jono Garton]

sounds good!

Be intrested to see if anyone gets any misting up?

Jono

[alystra]

I got a 550 last season. It transformed my cruises among the nooks and crannies around here. I am really pleased with it - though can't compare it with any others as it's the first plotter I've had. Much better than messin with laminated pieces of chart.

The boat's afloat all season and so far no misting problems at all. Very clear, easy to understand, most menues intuitive. Mind you, I've not really used it to 'navigate' with as I can usually see where I'm going, but as a pilotage tool round here it's great.

One big irritation, which may be true of other plotters is the apparently very clear, but in fact obtuse NMEA connection instructions. Finally had to get an expert to get the connections to my Ray54E VHF right, and that made me very fed up as I'm quite capable of following instructions and joining up wires and had succeeded with my old Garmin 126 GPS.

[Channel Ribs]

Originally Posted by Jono Garton

Anyone had any dealings with the garmin 550 or 550s?

Any good?

Jono

Be careful as there are yet more price increases on the way!

Some dealers will be offering much better prices than others.

They are a great unit though, excellent value for money. If you don't want the sounder option built in then also look at the Horizon CP range.

We are currently investigating a fault in a 550 for another RIBnetter, it does look though like the fault was a freak circumstance and not a design issue.

[Pete7]

Jono we have the 555s on the yacht. Great little unit and now linked with AIS more than happy with it. Menu simple and clear, just does what it says on the box and comes with charts as standard. Marine Superstore were the cheapest I found at the time, probably because they are shifting large numbers.

Pete

[eilean mor]

hi Jono,

yep its what I'm using, and I'm very pleased with it, I researched a few of them and came back to this unit for what I wanted, and the students find it easy to work with - so its doing what I wanted it to,

no misting, but it doesnt stay on for more than a week at a time.

[Jono Garton]

Sold! Ive just ordered a few.

Bye bye Navman

Jono

[Channel Ribs]

Originally Posted by Jono Garton

Sold! Ive just ordered a few.

May I ask what price you got?

[Jono Garton]

Originally Posted by malthouse

May I ask what price you got?

Think they were £350+vat ish

Jono